A few years ago, the staff and board of the Intercourse Library thought it would be fun to celebrate the start of the Summer Reading Program with a special event, and the Family Fun Day and Summer Reading Kickoff was born.

The third annual Family Fun Day and Summer Reading Kickoff will be held at the Intercourse Library, 31 Center St., Intercourse, on Saturday, June 8, from 9 a.m. to noon. As in the past, the event will include games, food, and a used book sale. Patrons of the Salisbury Township Public Library in Gap are invited to attend.

Activities scheduled for the Family Fun Day will include rock painting; giant yard games, such as Connect Four and an inflatable dart game with a large bullseye; and fun with bubbles. A scavenger hunt is planned inside the library with free books for those who participate. Blank bookmarks will be available for a "design your own" craft. Cookie decorating will also be offered, with one free cookie per child.

A fun run for children will be held. Children will run at different times according to age. Children ages 4 to 7 will race at 10 a.m., and children ages 8 to 12 will race at 11 a.m. A preschool fun run for children under age 4 will take place prior to the 10 a.m. run.

Doughnuts, hot dogs, and water will be sold for a nominal cost.

The day will celebrate the start of the Summer Reading Program, which for 2024 has the theme "Adventure Begins at Your Library." The reading program will run from Saturday, June 1, through Saturday, Aug. 10. Participants are divided into four levels; The Read Aloud group for children from birth to 4, the Junior Reading Level for under ages 5 to 9, the Tween Reading Level for youths ages 10 to 12, and the Teen Reading Level for teenagers ages 13 to 19. Generally, 500 readers take part in the Intercourse Library program, turning in about 1,000 reading logs.

Attendees at the Family Fun Day will receive a calendar of special events that will be held at the Intercourse Library during the summer. Among the events will be visits from Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary, cartoonist Ed Klein, Ryan "The Bug Man" Bridge, and drummer Tammi Hessen. Story time at the Intercourse location only will be held on Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. during the summer.

Catherine O'Sullivan, director of the Intercourse Library, said that up-to-date information about library activities may be found on the easy-to-use website, which was redesigned in 2023. The website may be found at https://intercourselib.org. "We update events on the website calendar, along with hours for both branches and maps," said O'Sullivan, who added that online magazines are available there. The library's Instagram may be found using the handle @intercourse_library.